To meet its infrastructure needs, the Middle East needs to invest, on average, around 6% of its GDP annually, although with differences across countries. This could lead to direct job creation of about 2.5 million direct, indirect and induced infrastructure-related jobs. Because of significant differences in financing opportunities, fiscal constraints could be binding for the poorest countries. The effectiveness of job creation from infrastructure will depend on the quality of targeting and on cost subsidies as well as on the effectiveness of (re)training programs. Managing unrealistic expectations will also matter as infrastructure jobs will help but will not solve the region's employment challenge. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.